Reclining in the Pleasure of Your Secret Delights ~ completed and sold!

Hanging at our co-op gallery, TECAC, until presentation at the silent auction Chair-ity event for youth art education, this piece began as a chair, and evolved into a hanging assemblage art piece.

 The title refers back to the original intention of this framework

but also too, to the transformation of the piece as well as a context of duality that is seen in much of my work.

I struggled with technical construction and it was holding back the concept. Finally, I accepted that I was not a carpenter, I was not a sculptor, or an upholsterer~ I am a painter.  And so that is what I did and that became the direction of my resources.

 I often incorporate the horizon at dawn in my paintings.  It represents for me a great moment of power because it is the greatest moment of potential.  All things are possible in those seconds as the sun rises and the day begins.  All things.  The money raised from the sale of this assemblage along with so many others will be used to teach local youth, through visual arts, this very lesson.  June 12th, Bedford Virginia.

Transitions

Everything changes.  She used to be so little ~ smaller than the cats, and just as curious.  So smart.  So happy.  So willing to learn something new.  Made herself comfortable in the pack. Four cats, two humans, one canine ~ she was the princess. She knows her left from her right. She knows how to back up without turning around.  She likes apples but not carrots.  She knows not to eat the cat food in the bowl, so she scoops up whatever the cats fling out of the bowl ~ she understands technicalities very well.  She flushed out pheasants and helped dig in the gardens.  When out for walks she always drank out of a thermos, never out of a bowl and we always thread flowers in her harness. She chases robins and squirrels and loves to wash the cat's ears in the morning.  She loves the snow but not the rain.  She has her own spot on the couch and can count to four.  She used to be so little and didn't even know how to catch a ball.  Now she takes a lot of naps and a lot of vitamins.  Now she needs a lift to get onto the couch.  Now things are changing again and we are not ready.  She gets queasy and tired and sometimes a little confused.  Now we walk with the snails and sometimes get up in the middle of the night.  Now we wait for the next change, the final change and then things will never be the same.  It is a heavy price worth paying.  But there is no way to stop it. Everything changes.

The Kiss

Daydreaming on a winter's day, about love, loss, and that sweetest thing of all, a first kiss. If you have ever observed two cats bond, their companionship is lovely and fun like a couple that's been married for decades. These two cuties, Mottie and Pixie, cuddled up together all the time and often seemed to be hugging and kissing and very caring.  Mottie was almost twice Pixie's size, but that little girl always got her way as he was her very own gentle giant.  Whatever it was that connected them, for me it was adorable to see and always reminded me of "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt.  A moment of closeness between two loved ones that was for them alone.

This piece is painted in oils in my expressive and watercolor-inspired "take away" style.

More Brewings

Monster Whiskers is moving along.  Petey's eyes are starting to get that appropriate crazy cat look and the whiskers are getting figured out.  There is very little actual color in this image so his eyes will really need to be strong. The composition is simple and so the features need to be just right.  As I layer the white over the darks there is a nice luminosity and volume to his fur.  I have found that white is wonderfully strong with a very dark layer underneath. How dry the dark layer is will inform how warm or cool, and how bright the white layers are.  Still more to go here, but I am pleased. Petey's rascally nature is unstoppable.  If only you could hear his constant chatter!

Stretch It Out

This has been the most difficult canvas I have ever tried to create.  This crow "configuration" is part of a larger piece slowly coming together out of little bits of this and that right here in the studio. There is so much figuring out and so much to learn; to discover ~ I really cannot wait to start painting on it.  The thought process of creating "in the round" is really out of the box thinking for me.  I felt this was appropriate for this particular piece~ the only solution really.  Taking risks is part of the creative experience.  It's compulsive.  It is a good life lesson as well.  Growing up, I was extremely lucky to have as thorough an art education as I did an academic one. I learned the basics of visual arts at the same time I learned basic math, science, and language.  This formative education led to the fluency and confidence in creating I have today.  My crow painting above may not work in the end, but the experience of creating it will certainly push me to try again and again until it does.  That is a lesson all young people need to know whether the catalyst is art, music, writing, science, etc...

When completed, my painting  will be put along side many other unique pieces in a silent auction, in early May, to raise money for children's art education in the local Bedford County, VA area.
More details forthcoming.  If you are curious to see more of what I am plotting, simply call  me for an appointment.  All sorts of things are brewing...

Monster Whiskers in progress

Session I

 

Session II

Here is my little cat, Petey, whose whiskers are quite astounding and so a painting was born. The first session made some decisions about composition, tone and proportion.  Where did I want warm and cool color to dominate?  What kind of impact was I looking for and what did it seem his naughty little expression was telling me... The second session I focused on darks.  He is white and grey and so a dark background would make those whiskers sing.  There is bright sunlight in the photo I am referencing and I really want to show that contrast.  And then there are his eyes. Sometimes green, sometimes yellow,  always full of mischief, they are one of my favorite subjects to paint...

Contest

Something a little hot for these cold cold winter days!  Here is my entry for the 2015 Jerry's Artarama Self Portrait Contest.  Thought I would give it a try.  This is an excellent example of why I need to up my game on portfolio image quality.  When it was a camera and film, it was a little easier to keep high quality images. A good photo is a good photo.  With computers and digital images and the constant flux of technology, it is difficult for me to keep up! But I am working on it.  Anyway, if you click the link below, you can vote for my painting ~ voting is from April 6th to April 21st .  Winning prizes are all various amounts of store credit at Jerry's  and of course a little pride in your pocket.  A pretty good deal for an artist.  If you enjoy creating self portraits, please submit your image! You never know unless you try. Or as my husband likes to say "that ditch isn't going to dig itself." Good Luck! Happy Creating!!!
Painting details - "Self Portrait; Left Too Long" 2013 oil on canvas 20in x 24in. Painted from looking in a mirror during one of the hottest summers I can remember... message me for sales or any other inquiries.

http://bit.ly/1E95Vr4